As the Q3 earnings season comes to a close, it’s time to take stock of this quarter’s best and worst performers in the finance and HR software industry, including Workiva (NYSE: WK) and its peers.

Organizations are constantly looking to improve organizational efficiencies, whether it is financial planning, tax management or payroll. Finance and HR software benefit from the SaaS-ification of businesses, large and small, who much prefer the flexibility of cloud-based, web-browser delivered software paid for on a subscription basis than the hassle and expense of purchasing and managing on-premise enterprise software.

The 14 finance and HR software stocks we track reported a mixed Q3. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.4% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 1% below.

Thankfully, share prices of the companies have been resilient as they are up 7.6% on average since the latest earnings results.

Workiva (NYSE: WK)

Founded in 2010, Workiva (NYSE: WK) offers software as a service product that makes financial and compliance reporting easier, especially for publicly traded corporations.

Workiva reported revenues of $185.6 million, up 17.4% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 1.7%. Overall, it was a satisfactory quarter for the company with an impressive beat of analysts’ billings estimates.

"Workiva is once again in a beat and raise position. Our results highlight an acceleration of our growth and improved operating leverage," said Julie Iskow, President & Chief Executive Officer.

Interestingly, the stock is up 25.9% since reporting and currently trades at $110.42.

Is now the time to buy Workiva? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Best Q3: Bill.com (NYSE: BILL)

Started by René Lacerte in 2006 after selling his previous payroll and accounting software company PayCycle to Intuit, Bill.com (NYSE: BILL) is a software as a service platform that aims to make payments and billing processes easier for small and medium-sized businesses.

Bill.com reported revenues of $358.5 million, up 17.5% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 3.3%. The business had a very strong quarter with EPS guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations and an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 33.7% since reporting. It currently trades at $88.

Is now the time to buy Bill.com? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Weakest Q3: Asure (NASDAQ: ASUR)

Created from the merger of two small workforce management companies in 2007, Asure (NASDAQ: ASUR) provides cloud based payroll and HR software for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

Asure reported revenues of $29.3 million, flat year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 6.5%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted revenue guidance for next quarter missing analysts’ expectations.

Asure delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates, slowest revenue growth, and weakest full-year guidance update in the group. As expected, the stock is down 8% since the results and currently trades at $9.14.

Read our full analysis of Asure’s results here.

Workday (NASDAQ: WDAY)

Founded by industry veterans Aneel Bushri and Dave Duffield after their former company PeopleSoft was acquired by Oracle in a hostile takeover, Workday (NASDAQ: WDAY) provides cloud-based software for organizations to manage and plan finance and human resources.

Workday reported revenues of $2.16 billion, up 15.8% year on year. This result topped analysts’ expectations by 1.4%. Overall, it was a strong quarter as it also produced an impressive beat of analysts’ annual recurring revenue estimates and a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

The stock is down 3.8% since reporting and currently trades at $260.13.

Read our full, actionable report on Workday here, it’s free.

Paycom (NYSE: PAYC)

Founded in 1998 as one of the first online payroll companies, Paycom (NYSE: PAYC) provides software for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to manage their payroll and HR needs in one place.

Paycom reported revenues of $451.9 million, up 11.2% year on year. This number surpassed analysts’ expectations by 1.1%. It was a strong quarter as it also put up a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

The stock is up 20% since reporting and currently trades at $206.69.

Read our full, actionable report on Paycom here, it’s free.

Market Update

Thanks to the Fed's series of rate hikes in 2022 and 2023, inflation has cooled significantly from its post-pandemic highs, drawing closer to the 2% goal. This disinflation has occurred without severely impacting economic growth, suggesting the success of a soft landing. The stock market has thrived in 2024, spurred by recent rate cuts (0.5% in September and 0.25% each in November and December), and a notable surge followed Donald Trump's presidential election win in November, propelling indices to historic highs. Nonetheless, the outlook for 2025 remains clouded by the pace and magnitude of future rate cuts as well as potential changes in trade policy and corporate taxes once the Trump administration takes over. The path forward is marked by uncertainty.

Want to invest in winners with rock-solid fundamentals? Check out our Hidden Gem Stocks and add them to your watchlist. These companies are poised for growth regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate.

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